A Universe Without Its Brightest Star
by Phoenix T
Summary: Wanda wanted to give into her rage when she felt her twin die, when she felt his soul ripped from hers. She wants to surrender her soul to the huge wave of pain that was drowning her. She wants to rip him limp from limp. After all; her universe is without its brightest star because of him. The least she could do is kill him. After all, Who's going to stop her?
The heart wrenching feeling of agony made her stop in realization. At first she didn't realize she was screaming. The pain had come in giant waves, she was drowning in it. Then the buzzing started and turned into a high pitch siren-like sound. But then it sifting to screaming. Wanda wondered morbidly if that was her twin screaming even after death before the harsh truth slapped her in the face. That was her screaming. The harsh movement of air across her throat and piercing sound of the loud wail did little to sooth her aching soul. _Pietro. Nooo!_ Her power swirled around her, trying to comfort her but the pain became too much again and she collapsed her knees, the rubble was cutting into her flesh but it was barely noticeable. Her cloud of sorrow and pain swelled into a burning hurricane of rage promising death to Ultron and threatening all those who dared get in her way. Her blood red mist exploded out from her, engulfing the droids in the area and dissolving them quickly.

Wanda no longer cared about protecting the machine, the droids were all but gone. However Ultron's conscience still wavered at the edge of her perception. The rage screamed, pulsing, throbbing, trying to escape its physical prison to strangle the thing that murder her twin soul. Wanda's vision was a haze of red as she stumbled through the deserted rock that was once her home but was now a death trap. An evil smile crossed her face as she found her prey, all but a broken shell laying amongst the rubble. Strands of her power laced themselves around her fingers as she prepared to take the life of the thing that took her Pietro.

"This won't satisfy the rage inside you." Wanda jumped before rapidly turning around, energy flaring as a threat to whoever snuck up on her. A woman sat on a pile of twisted concrete looking at Wanda with a raised eyebrow. She put her hands up in submission.

"I mean you no harm Wanda." Wanda's eyes crinkled, she did not recognize this woman. Even if she had, the woman shouldn't be here. Pietro died getting people to those rescue boats. They could at least stay there. Suddenly she remembered why she was here. The stranger posed no harm; so she turned back to the sparking body of Ultron. His electronic eyes had turned to watch his executioner. Wanda felt a growl grow deep within her throat. He would pay NOW!

"Wanda, killing him won't fill the hole in your heart." The person in question spun around again as the woman interrupted her revenge. Again.

"I don't care." She said snarling, red filing her brown irises. Her eyes held a cruel pain and a barely leashed rage. The woman should be careful where she treads.

"But you will, because eventually this will eat you from the inside out and you will become a danger to yourself and everyone around you." The woman said, her own coffee eyes showing worry not for herself but for Wanda. This stilled Wanda for a second but she eventually recovered enough of her rage to reply.

"Good, he should fear me!" She screamed, pointing a black finger nail at the only functional Ultron droid left. The woman's eyes softened and she got up from her seat on the rubble to slowly walk towards a trembling Wanda.

"But he won't fear you. If you bring the destruction you wish to unleash, he'll have won. You will have been his perfect weapon to destroy the Avengers. Then the world you fought to save will fear you…The people Pietro died to save will fear the one thing that held his heart eternally." The women said, her voice was calm but she pushed everyone ounce of remorse, hope, and care she had into those words. She took another step closer to Wanda and stood only a foot away. Wanda could've killed her before the women knew what happened but as she processed the women's words, Wanda knew she was right. Her soul let out a pulse of pain as she remembered the words her twin had said to her telepathically during the battle.

 _I love you Wanda and remember I will always be proud of you._

Suddenly the weight of the situation finally settled on Wanda and she collapsed to the ground, sobs echoing through her chest as tears spilled from her eyes. Wanda felt the weight of the stranger's arms settle around her, pulling her into a hug, and she felt part of her pain go numb. Not a lot but just enough to give her hope that maybe one day everything might be okay one day.

"He loved you so much Wanda. So much. He wouldn't want you to put yourself through so much pain for him."

"It hurts so bad!" Wanda sobbed into her shoulder; the thick material did little to muffle the sound of Wanda's pain. Her hand gripped the straps of the front of the uniform tightly. If it hurt, the stranger didn't make a sound. For a minute the only sounds heard were Wanda's sobs, the wind, and the women's softly spoken words of comfort.

Slowly her sobs faded as she tired herself out. Despite the tear soaked uniform, the stranger put Wanda's arm over her shoulder and wrapped an arm behind Wanda's legs before lifting her up and carrying her away from the place where she had come to kill Ultron. As they passed Ultron let out a final groan as his power core exploded from the inside-out.

Wanda rested her head on the women's chest and listened to the sound of her heart beat like she had done with Pietro when they were little. Wanda's raspy voice broke the silence between the two on their way back to the Avengers. "Why did you care?"

"What?" Came the women's surprised response. Her eyes darted down to meet Wanda's before looking up.

"Why did you care about whether or not I became a monster?" Wanda repeated.

"I cared because I couldn't watch something so horrible happen to someone else when I could prevent it. I couldn't let a soul in pain, stay that way when I could share even a little of that burden." Wanda could barely process what she said. Who would go out of their way to save someone who couldn't care about whether or not they did something horrible.

"Who are you?"

A smile crossed the women's face at Wanda's question and only grew when she spotted the Avengers racing towards them.

"A friend."


End file.
